Leaf Decomposition in an Ozark Cave and Spring

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Abstract
Decomposition of leaves was compared among sites in a stream that originates deep in a cave and then emerges as a spring brook. White oak (Quercus alba) leaf packs and plastic controls were placed in four similar riffle areas: (1) in the cave above a sink hole; (2) in the cave below a sink hole; (3) in the spring under an overhang; and (4) in the spring exposed to direct sunlight (through a forest canopy). Flow, temperature, and other aspects of physical-chemical water quality were constant among sites while availability of natural leaf liter, food abundance and variety, light, and the number and types of invertebrates varied. Processing rates (−k) at the cave sites (1 = 0.0075, 2 = 0.0085) were faster than rates for white oak reported for surface streams, despite a paucity of invertebrates in the cave and similar temperatures. Leaf packs which received sunlight had ten times more invertebrates associated with them than those under the overhang, but similar processing rates (0.019 and 0.024 respectively). Because of these results, we suspect that the decomposition rates outside the cave were faster due to factors other than macroinvertebrates.